A short horror story.
The clock struck midnight as the young mother wandered through the house. The sounds of children echoed through the hallways. Some sounded gleeful and others filled with despair.
She was mumbling to herself as she stepped, “will they ever sleep through the night! Always waking me at ungodly hours.”
She walked down the hallway the lights flickering softly. The hallway was dark. The light fixtures, chandelier-like, swayed while the electric pieces crackled like moths flying too close to the light.
She paused for a moment confused “why are my children laughing?” Their disembodied giggles filled the hallway and she stood still to listen. The sounds of the children were not normal. Despite the hesitation, she ignored the feeling of doom and pressed on determined care for her young.
Rounding the corner a blue door slightly cracked and hanging on hinged swayed open. It squeaked as it opened inward revealing the baby’s room. The giggles grew louder coming from an oak crib. She approached the crib without a second thought and gazed inside.
Suddenly, the giggles turned to tears, her tears.
The crib was empty.
“Where are my children?” she screamed in panic. The lights snapped on suddenly revealing an empty room. No baby or crib.
A man stood in the doorway staring and sighed. She looked at him with wide eyes filled with tears “where am I?”
He approached her and slowly put a jacket around her shoulders. “We need to go dear, you’re sleepwalking again. I will never understand why you always wander into this orphanage. It’s been abandoned for years.” He gently guided her toward the stairs and out the front door.
As they exited the abandoned home, no one noticed the giggling of children begin again, faint as a whispered.
No one knew it decided to follow them home.
Prompt by Christine Graves “Poetic Visions: Set your senses free. The sound of a child’s laughter.”
Tas The Artist 
Leave a comment